Cell Phone Video Shows Potential Insurance Fraud
With the number of cyclists and cars sharing the roads, collisions are a common fear and an unfortunate reality for many South Florida drivers. However, collisions where both parties emerge without a scratch can be more than just “lucky.” It could be too good to be true as discovered by this one Fort Myers couple.
According to Fox 4 news, on March 1, 2016, a couple collided with a bicyclist in Southwest Florida leaving him completely unscathed. However, once he stood up and began complaining about the value of the sunglasses that were ruined in the accident, a passing woman told him to get back on the ground, advising him that it would be worth a lot more than his sunglasses. Luckily, her husband, the passenger in the car involved in the collision, just happened to be recording on his cell phone.
“Stay right there! Stay right there! Then you got 72 to 76 hours to go to the hospital,” she tells him. The cyclist does not reply to the woman but you can see him sitting on the ground as he’s being coached on what to do. To this, the cyclist does not reply but rather continues to complain about his damaged “pair of $180 sunglasses,” which you can hear on the recording. “You can sue their insurance fund” yells the passing woman to the cyclist, trying to convince him that the sunglasses are not worth much in comparison to what he can make from a lawsuit.
The recording was taken to Mr. Auto insurance, a Fort Myers area insurance agency, where the video was shown to agents who have dealt with cases like this before. “Like these people here, they took a minute, record it, report it, that’s the most important thing,” says insurance agent Dave Lindback.
Video recordings can prevent individuals from paying more money in the long run. Most people think the insurance company is the one that has to cover the extra expenses, but that is not as true as some people believe it to be. Eventually, rates increase on renewals and in the end, customers pay for it.
Recording and reporting incidents like this do not only help your insurance rates but may also affect your case in court. “If I was on the jury and I saw that video, it would blow my socks off. I would absolutely find zero damages. I think maybe the state attorney needs to take a look at that,” says Fort Myers attorney Mike Chionopolous.
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